Space telescope

​According to a new study, evidence of alien life in the atmospheres of potentially habitable exoplanets could be hidden from telescopic eyes by unusual air flow patterns. The research could have significant implications regarding how astronomers carry out their search for extraterrestrial life.

The Hubble Space Telescope has captured a stunningly detailed view of the weakly barred spiral galaxy NGC 3344, which is located some 20 million light-years away in the direction of the "Lion Cub" constellation, Leo Minor.

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope hasn't even reached the launch pad and it's already getting its first job orders. The internationally-developed, multi-billion-dollar instrument has been assigned 13 "early release" programs designed to study a wide variety of phenomena.

The discovery of seven habitable planets just 40 light years away is awesome, but they are still 40 light years away. Advanced scientific instruments closer to home will play very important roles in exploring these distant worlds, perhaps none more so than the James Webb Space Telescope.

​​The optical and science segment of the largest space telescope ever made now stands complete in the largest clean room on the planet, at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. The James Webb Space Telescope is now poised to undergo rigorous pre-flight testing ahead of its 2018 launch.

Data from ESA's Herschel Space Observatory indicates that ultraviolet light from stars may be a key factor in turning interstellar gases into complex molecules that are the precursor chemicals of life.

Beyond is the name given to the final 30-month mission extension of NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope​. Starting in October, the veteran instrument will carry out new observations in astronomy, cosmology, and the search for planets beyond the Solar System.

​NASA engineers at the Goddard Space Flight Center have successfully installed the delicate camera and spectrometer instruments onto the back of the James Webb Space Telescope's (JWST) mirror assembly.